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1903 mark one restoration, need help.

425 views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  Planejumper 
#1 ·
Ok guys, need constructive criticism here, and some advice to get this mark 1 correct parts.

what I know I need:
right now I know I have the correct mark one spindle and cut off switch, I am not sure about the trigger, as I haven't gotten that deep yet, I know and already have ordered the correct sear, and I am also aware of the bolt and rear sights being Remington ww2 era replacements, but am not 100 percent on which sights and bolt I need. I have seen several threads where there is a number of different bolts that could be in the mark one, is there a specific one that would need to go with this rifle. Believe by the serial number (#1055***) to be early Jan 1919, or I guess possibly December 1918 as the barrel is dated as such.

what I have no clue on:
trigger guard, floor plate, barrel bands etc..

it is in my opinion a very interesting rifle, as it went through a arsenal rebuild at the rock island arsenal but retains its original stock, cutoff, spindle, and I believe barrel. The stock has multiple repairs to it and has seen much better days but it is surprisingly sturdy even with the damages. The handguard is fragile, and I'm not sure as I'm still new to 1903s if it is original to the gun or not. I'm sure the proper handguard will be expensive to replace with the correct one,as I have seen talk of the early handguards being expensive (once again I claim no experience to this, just what I have gathered reading on the subject)

if if anyone could help me identify which parts I would need and approximately what each will or should cost, to get this up to speed I would appreciate it greatly.

this project is not for me to resale, but just to have it in its original state, and just wanting a project to do and search for parts (something I consider to be fun) and have a nice rifle to hand down to the kids one day when I pass, as one will get my M1 and one will get the mark one.

Thank you you all for any input and knowledge to this matter, and thanks to Rick as well which has already been extremely helpful.


I have more pictures, but it only allows me to attach 12 per post.
 

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#3 ·
Your serial number is right after the break from the straight handle bolt to the swept handle bolt, so you will be looking for a swept handle. It should be marked J5 on the bottom of the safety lug. A bolt with swept handle and an L (2,5,or 9) over W on the top or bottom of the bolt handle also came out shortly after the J5 bolt, and could be acceptable for the Mark I.

The 12-18 barrel is just right.
 
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